"If only my husband were alive, this would have never happened. If only I hadn't yearned for the touch of a man. If only I hadn't felt so alone. If only I wasn't scared of falling in love again. If only I hadn't fallen into a monster's trap. Then, maybe...just maybe, we would be safe." Ember, a widowed mother, scared of falling in love again. Tyler, a playboy, falling in love. Where do we hide when the monsters hide behind caring faces?
Warning:
This story contains graphic/sensitive themes, including:
sexual elements, mentions of death/loss, stalking, and domestic violence/abuse.
I ask you to please take your mental health seriously and use your own discretion as needed, skipping parts if you need. Each episode that includes such themes will have a warning included at the beginning.
If you or a loved one are dealing with domestic abuse, please reach out for help at the National Domestic Abuse Hotline at
1-800-799-7233
The lights dimmed. I held on tight to my little Max, holding his mouth closed, peeking out of the crack in the closet, praying help would come before he found us. Thunderous footsteps marched up the stairs towards us. My other hand tightly clutched onto my pistol. I prayed I didn't have to pull the trigger, but I had to protect my son.
My body froze, and I felt my gut churning and chest burning. "Ember." His venomous voice spat. "Come out, come out wherever you are." I shut my eyes tight, holding back the tears. "Maxi! Where you at, bud?" I held my son closer. Even though he recognized the voice, he remembered the pain the monster put us through. No child should ever have to see what that monster did.
If only...if only my husband were alive, this would have never happened. If only I hadn't yearned for the touch of a man again. If only I hadn't felt so alone. If only I wasn't scared of falling in love again. If only I hadn't fallen into a monster's trap. Then, maybe...just maybe, we would be safe.
*CRASH, BOOM, BANG*
The monster was becoming angry, breaking what little we had left. The sounds of drywall crumbling and glass breaking echoed in the closet. Unfortunately, we became all too used to the sounds during the brief time he was here. Max held onto me tight, burying his face in my chest. What kind of mother am I? Bringing this monster into our lives, I need to protect my baby. I searched the closet for any place I could hide him, then I remembered...the vent!
"Shush, baby. It's going to be alright." I whispered to my son, standing on a box, and loosening the vent cover. "Make it to Tyler's apartment. Stay safe, baby." I hoisted Max and asked him to make the same journey he'd made before, and I saw him cry as he didn't want to leave his mother. I wiped away his tears. "I promise everything will be okay, baby. Go get help." Taking one last look at him, I blew my son a kiss. "I love you, Maxi Bear." With that, I closed the vent. It was the only way I could protect him. I just prayed it would not be the last time I saw him.
Gripping onto my gun, I stay in the closet. Sweat poured down my body as the adrenaline took over. Now that Max is safe, I have one mission: to stay alive for my son. The monster wants me, not him.
"Ember, baby. Just come out and let's talk." The monster slurred his words, drunk as usual. "I love you, sweetheart. I'll change, I'm sorry." He will never change.
I stayed silent, listening to where the stomping was coming from. This upset the monster even more.
"I said come out! His voice changed back to pure evil. "You are mine! After I'm done with you, your little fuck boy, Tyler, is next!" He let out an evil chuckle. Smashing another hole in the wall.
The footsteps moved closer. I held my finger on the trigger, ready to shoot, tucking my body under a pile of clothes, praying he wouldn't see me.
The air was sucked out of the room; I tried my hardest to quiet my breathing. The pile of stale clothes smelling of my love spell perfume clung to my sweat, yet I stay still, curled up as small as possible. Begging for help to arrive before it's too late. My limbs fell asleep, pressed against the hard floor. I shut my eyes tight, constricting my muscles as the footsteps entered the room.
My heart dropped as the sound of the closet creaking open filled my ears. Holding my breath, I froze. The monster slammed the closet shut again; I didn't move a muscle. Relief fell over my body...I don't think he saw me.
Just then, the monster ripped my arm upwards, out of the pile of clothes. "Found you, princess." The monster laughed, pulling my arm towards him.
(updated daily) Being on the run from assassins is not how I imagined my summer to go. I can't help but to have feelings for this man who has sworn to protect my life with his own...how can I fight this desire? Who are the men trying to kill me? Is it even possible to find love while the truth comes to light about my mother's death and father's secretive job?
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
“Do I want a taste?” his voice deeper than he had ever spoken. His eyes pinned on me like I was the only thing that fascinated him. “What do I do?” I thought to myself as he moved closer to me, I wanted to run away, to resist him but I was pinned to the wall by him. “Gosh I hate this man so much” his scent, his body, his beautiful green eyes, he was driving me crazy. I know this is wrong, he has a fiancee and all but that makes me want him even more. “Get on the bed and spread your legs” his cold voice woke me up and then I remembered I was just a maid to him. “Yes master”.
A man like Travis Sinclair wants nothing more than a woman who matches his sexual prowess and is used to getting everything he wants. A cold-hearted billionaire ,he lives by one rule - no love, no commitment. Ayanna Davies isn't looking for a relationship. She's focused on her work and the financial security it brings. As a high end escort, her client is full of filthy rich men who are willing to pay handsomely for her services. But when Travis Sinclair becomes one of her clients, she begins twice about mixing work with pleasure. Not knowing that he is an old acquaintance whom she despises.
Linsey was stood up by her groom to run off with another woman. Furious, she grabbed a random stranger and declared, "Let's get married!" She had acted on impulse, realizing too late that her new husband was the notorious rascal, Collin. The public laughed at her, and even her runaway ex offered to reconcile. But Linsey scoffed at him. "My husband and I are very much in love!" Everyone thought she was delusional. Then Collin was revealed to be the richest man in the world. In front of everyone, he got down on one knee and held up a stunning diamond ring. "I look forward to our forever, honey."
Iris grew from an orphaned child to the adopted daughter of the Stewart family at age ten, finding warmth in her nominal uncle Vincent's kindness. Seven years later, she became his secret lover. When Vincent's engagement was announced, gossip spread about the notorious playboy CEO finally settling down. But only Iris knew the extent of his cold, two-faced nature. Iris fell for Vincent and, through tears, begged, "Marry me," only to be met with his frosty refusal. Defeated, she accepted a lawyer's proposal, sparking public excitement. Then, on her wedding day, Vincent pleaded desperately, "Don't marry him…"
Lindsey's fiancé was the devil's first son. Not only did he lie to her but he also slept with her stepmother, conspired to take away her family fortune, and then set her up to have sex with a total stranger. To get her lick back, Lindsey decided to find a man to disrupt her engagement party and humiliate the cheating bastard. Never did she imagine that she would bump into a strikingly handsome stranger who was all that she was currently looking for. At the engagement party, he boldly declared that she was his woman. Lindsey thought he was just a broke man who wanted to leech off her. But once they began their fake relationship, she realized that good luck kept coming her way. She thought they would part ways after the engagement party, but this man kept to her side. "We gotta stick together, Lindsey. Remember, I'm now your fiancé. " "Domenic, you're with me because of my money, aren't you?" Lindsey asked, narrowing her eyes at him. Domenic was taken aback by that accusation. How could he, the heir of the Walsh family and CEO of Vitality Group, be with her for money? He controlled more than half of the city's economy. Money wasn't a problem for him! The two got closer and closer. One day, Lindsey finally realized that Domenic was actually the stranger she had slept with months ago. Would this realization change things between them? For the better or worse?